The Retirement and Re-employment Act

The Retirement and Re-employment Act was introduced in parliament in Nov 2010 and passed as law on 11 Jan 2011.

The Act outlines provisions for the employment of workers beyond the age of 62 years, including eligibility criteria, avenues for recourse, and introduces offences related to re-employment.

Highlights from the Act are summarized below:

Eligibility Criteria – An employee who reaches the prescribed minimum age under the Retirement Age Act (62 years) before 1 Jan 2012 is not elgible for re-employment. An employee must be medically fit and have satisfactory performance to be eligible for re-employment. The onus is on the employer to prove that an employee is not eligible for re-employment;

Requirement for Re-employment – The employer is required by law to offer employment to any worker reaching the age of 62 the option to work till age 65. In this case, an employer is deemed to have complied with this requirement if the employee is allowed to continue to work beyind the specified age without entering into a new contract. If an employer is unable to re-employ an eligible employee because of a lack of a suitable vacancy despite reasonable attempts to do so, then the employer must offer a Employment Assistance Payment which may be either a single lump sum or any other mutually agreed amount.

Terms of Service – The employer has the flexibility to vary the job scope and terms of service for the re-employed worker, provided these are reasonable and mutually agreed upon.